You decide to make an additional $300 payment toward principal every month to pay off your home faster. By adding $300 to your monthly payment, you'll save just over $64,000 in interest and pay off your home over 11 years sooner.
The amount saved will vary based on the initial size of the loan and interest rate. Simply by making an additional payment over the life of a 15-year mortgage for $300,000 dollars at an interest rate of 5%, amounts to an eventual savings of up to 200 dollars monthly.
Adding Extra Each Month
A 30 year mortgage (360 months) can be reduced to about 24 years (279 months) – this represents a savings of 6 years!
You decide to make an additional $300 payment toward principal every month to pay off your home faster. By adding $300 to your monthly payment, you'll save just over $64,000 in interest and pay off your home over 11 years sooner.
Biweekly payments accelerate your mortgage payoff by paying 1/2 of your normal monthly payment every two weeks. By the end of each year, you will have paid the equivalent of 13 monthly payments instead of 12. This simple technique can shave years off your mortgage and save you thousands of dollars in interest.
Making additional principal payments will shorten the length of your mortgage term and allow you to build equity faster. Because your balance is being paid down faster, you'll have fewer total payments to make, in-turn leading to more savings.
Okay, you probably already know that every dollar you add to your mortgage payment puts a bigger dent in your principal balance. And that means if you add just one extra payment per year, you'll knock years off the term of your mortgage—not to mention interest savings!
Making an extra mortgage payment each year could reduce the term of your loan significantly. The most budget-friendly way to do this is to pay 1/12 extra each month. For example, by paying $975 each month on a $900 mortgage payment, you'll have paid the equivalent of an extra payment by the end of the year.
Throwing in an extra $500 or $1,000 every month won't necessarily help you pay off your mortgage more quickly. Unless you specify that the additional money you're paying is meant to be applied to your principal balance, the lender may use it to pay down interest for the next scheduled payment.
Generally, national banks will allow you to pay additional funds towards the principal balance of your loan. However, you should review your loan agreement or contact your bank to find out their specific process for doing so.
If you decide you can't afford your overpayments, you can reduce or stop them at any time and go back to your original monthly mortgage repayment. Paying a lump sum off your mortgage will save you money on interest and help you clear your mortgage faster than if you spread your overpayments over a number of years.
If you pay $200 extra a month towards principal, you can cut your loan term by more than 8 years and reduce the interest paid by more than $44,000. Another way to pay down your loan in less time is to make half-monthly payments every 2 weeks, instead of 1 full monthly payment.
Both a 15-year and 30-year mortgage can have fixed interest rates and fixed monthly payments over the life of the loan. However, a 15-year mortgage means you will have your home paid off in 15 years rather than the full, 30-year mortgage so long as you make the required minimum monthly payments.
Well, mortgage payments are generally due on the first of the month, every month, until the loan reaches maturity, or until you sell the property. So it doesn't actually matter when your mortgage funds – if you close on the 5th of the month or the 15th, the pesky mortgage is still due on the first.
Pay extra toward your mortgage principal each month: After you've made your regularly scheduled mortgage payment, any extra cash goes directly toward paying down your mortgage principal. If you make an extra payment of $700 a month, you'll pay off your mortgage in about 15 years and save about $128,000 in interest.
Two Extra Mortgage Payments a Year Can Save You $64,000. Your mortgage is likely your largest expense, and you probably aren't looking forward to paying it off for the next 30 years.
Drawbacks to biweekly payments
One drawback to biweekly mortgage payments is that some lenders may charge fees to enroll in their biweekly payment plan. When it comes to fees, you should crunch the numbers to confirm you'll still get ahead financially by paying biweekly.
Biweekly payments mean you pay off your loan 4 years and 3 months early by making the equivalent of one extra payment per year. Not only will switching to biweekly payments save you time on the life of your loan, but it can also save thousands in payments and interest.
How the homeowner makes their mortgage payments can save a lot of money over the life of the loan. Tens of thousands of dollars can be saved by making bi-weekly mortgage payments and enables the homeowner to pay off the mortgage almost eight years early with a savings of 23% of 30% of total interest costs.
The good news is, savings aren't the only way to save per se. By overpaying on your mortgage, you could reduce your debt and save money that way. You'd be making gains at the same rate as your mortgage. So, if your mortgage rate is 3%, for example, that's the equivalent of savings that would earn 3% in interest.
“A prime borrower who locked in a mortgage over the past few years is likely to have an interest rate that's significantly lower than the current pace of inflation,” he said. “As a result, most people should not pre-pay their mortgage.
If you're overpaying your mortgage, you don't just get the advantage of paying interest on a smaller amount of debt. Overpaying also means your loan to value ratio falls faster. And if your LTV falls, it means when it comes to remortgaging, you may be able to get a cheaper deal than if you hadn't overpaid.